How crypto tax works in Germany
German tax law treats privately held Bitcoin, Ether, and similar tokens as private assets under section 23 of the Income Tax Act. A sale, swap, or payment with crypto inside one year of acquisition is a taxable private disposal.
Hold the same coins for more than one year and the gain is generally tax free, with no upper limit. Inside the year, gains stay exempt only while total private-disposal gains for the calendar year remain within the EUR 1,000 exemption that applies from 2024.
Staking, lending, and similar rewards are separate other income with their own EUR 256 annual exemption, and business-held crypto is taxed like any trading profit. The Finance Ministry's March 2025 crypto letter confirms staking and lending do not stretch the holding period.
Tax rates at a glance
- Private gains after one year
- 0%
- Private gains within one year
- Personal rate
- Annual private-gains exemption
- EUR 1,000
- Staking and lending rewards
- Personal rate
- Business crypto gains
- Personal or corporate rate
- Withholding at the exchange
- None
Who benefits most
These profiles tend to benefit most when the rules match their real residence, payroll and business setup.
Long-term holdersExpatsFreelancers paid in cryptoCross-border investorsFounders
Watch out for
- The EUR 1,000 figure is an exemption threshold, not an allowance: one euro above it can pull the whole year's private-disposal gain into tax, so partial sales near year-end need arithmetic first.
- Swapping Bitcoin for Ether or paying a supplier in crypto counts as a disposal, which restarts planning even when no euros touch your bank account.
- Without dated acquisition records, tax offices apply FIFO per wallet, so scattered exchange histories usually produce a worse result than a clean transaction log.
- Automatic exchange of crypto transaction data for transactions from January 2026 is coming, which makes undeclared multi-year trading histories much harder to defend.
Frequently asked questions
Is crypto tax free in Germany after one year?
Generally yes for privately held coins. Gains on crypto held more than one year are tax free regardless of size, while sales inside the year are taxable once the EUR 1,000 annual exemption is exceeded.
Does staking extend the German holding period?
No. The Finance Ministry's March 2025 letter confirms staking and lending do not stretch the one-year period, although the rewards themselves are taxable other income above EUR 256 a year.
Do German exchanges withhold crypto tax?
No. There is no withholding at the exchange, so gains, rewards, and mining income are self-assessed in the annual return with full transaction documentation.